Diamonds are Staten Island girl's best friend

Advance photo/Marjorie HackEight-year-olds, from the left, Vincent Muscarella, Taylor Margherita, and Gary Wegener are teammates on Donald Rowe Jr. Development team in the Junior Minors division, 2009 season at South Shore Little League. Taylor has opted to play baseball with the boys, rather than softball with the girls.

And most girls funnel into softball leagues. Taylor? You'll find her on the baseball diamond with the boys on the Donald Rowe Jr. Development team in the Junior Minors division at the South Shore Little League.

"It was her choice," said her mother, Lisa Miller of Charleston.

And a great one, according to her coach Joe Timini, who touts her aggressiveness, which, he said, comes from her mother.

"She likes to catch. It's the roughest position on the field. She embraces it," he said.

But Timini admits he could play her anywhere and she'd stand out. "She knows where to go, when to go and how to do it," he said.

Neither her mother nor her father, Eddie Margherita, can figure out where Taylor's interest in the sport, or her motivation, came from.

"Me? I'm not a big sports fan," admitted Margherita.

"We take turns, her mother and me," he said of the parents' skill-building approach outside of the dugout.

But their throwing expertise and base-running tips fall short of where their daughter's ability lies these days. For her, team play's the thing and she thrives on it.

"She likes the excitement. She likes winning," said Ms. Miller, who clearly knows her daughter.

When you catch, explained Taylor, "you have to dive in front of every ball and watch the steals."

"She doesn't back off from anything. She's a lot better than most other kids out here," said Timini.

"She's good," agreed Vincent Muscarella, 8, who's in third-grade right across the street from the field at PS 6, and can pitch, catch and cover third-base.

And, he said, none of the boys thinks twice about her being a girl. They all just play.

Taylor said softball didn't appeal to her because the ball is so much bigger than a baseball - and it's soft. Also, pitching must be underhand.

"I'll stick with the baseball," she said - even as she ages.

Taylor loves the team's navy-and-white uniforms because they're New York Yankees colors. And in a true instance of serendipity, she ended up with Number 4, not Number 7, on her jersey, this season.

"The coach said that's all that was left," she explained. But "4" was most appropriate. It just happened to be her maternal grandmother's favorite number, and she recently passed away. It's Taylor's favorite number, too.

Not that this young lady is counting on karma or divine spirits to carry her along. She has two pieces of good advice for every young athlete:

"If you pick something, stick with it," she said.

The other?

"Finish what you start."

That's the common sense piece of Taylor that makes her such an asset, said Timini - the part that comes from her father.

Marjorie Hack is the editor of the Shore sections. She can be reached at hack@siadvance.com.